TY - JOUR
T1 - A focus on the HIV care continuum through the healthy young men’s cohort study
T2 - Protocol for a mixed-methods study
AU - Kipke, Michele D.
AU - Kubicek, Katrina
AU - Wong, Carolyn F.
AU - Robinson, Yolo Akili
AU - Akinyemi, Ifedayo C.
AU - Beyer, William J.
AU - Hawkins, Wendy
AU - Rice, Cara E.
AU - Layland, Eric
AU - Bray, Bethany C.
AU - Belzer, Marvin
N1 - Funding Information:
Support for the original research was provided by a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health (U01DA036926). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. The authors would like to acknowledge the contributions of the many staff members who contributed to collection, management, analysis, and review of this data: James Aboagye, Alex Aldana, Stacy Alford, Ali Johnson, Lily Negash, Nicole Pereira, Aracely Rodriguez, and Maral Shahinian. The authors would also like to acknowledge the insightful and practical commentary of the members of the Community Advisory Board - Daniel Nguyen: Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team; Ivan Daniels III: Los Angeles Black Pride; Steven Campa: Los Angeles LGBT Center; Davon Crenshaw: AIDS Project Los Angeles; Andre Molette: Essential Access Health; Miguel Martinez, Joaquin Gutierrez, and Jesse Medina: Division of Adolescent Medicine, Children's Hospital Los Angeles; Greg Wilson: Reach LA; and The LGBTQ Center Long Beach.
Publisher Copyright:
© Michele D Kipke, Katrina Kubicek, Carolyn F Wong, Yolo Akili Robinson, Ifedayo C Akinyemi, William J Beyer, Wendy Hawkins, Cara E Rice, Eric Layland, Bethany C Bray, Marvin Belzer. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (http://www.researchprotocols.org), 24.01.2019. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Research Protocols, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://www.researchprotocols.org, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
PY - 2019/1
Y1 - 2019/1
N2 - Background: No group is at greater risk for acquiring HIV than young men who have sex with men (YMSM), particularly black or African American (AA) and Hispanic or Latino (L) YMSM living in inner cities, who account for the largest number of new HIV infections each year. Although pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), postexposure prophylaxis (PEP), and treatment as prevention hold enormous promise for changing the course of the epidemic, AA/L-YMSM are the least likely population to be receiving primary health care and HIV prevention/care and are the least likely to be using PrEP and PEP. Objective: The overarching aim of the Healthy Young Men’s (HYM) cohort study is to conduct longitudinal research with a cohort of AA/L-YMSM to prevent new HIV infections, reduce transmission, and reduce HIV/AIDS-related disparities by focusing on successful engagement in care. Findings from this research will be used to inform the development of new interventions designed to engage AA/L-YMSM in the HIV prevention and care continua. Methods: Longitudinal research (baseline and follow-up assessments every 6 months for a total of 8 waves of data collection) is ongoing with a new cohort of 450 high-risk AA/L-YMSM in Los Angeles. Participants were recruited using a venue-based and social media sampling design. In addition to self-report surveys, the study protocol includes the collection of urine to assess recent use of illicit drugs and the collection of blood and rectal/throat swabs to test for current sexually transmitted infection (STI)/HIV infection. An additional sample of blood/plasma (10 mL for 4 aliquots and 1 pellet) is also collected and stored in the HYM cohort study biorepository for future research. By design, we recruited 400 HIV-negative participants and 50 HIV-positive (HIV+) participants. This mixed-methods study design includes collection and triangulated analysis of quantitative, qualitative, and biological measures (ie, drug use, STI/HIV testing, and adherence to antiretroviral therapy among HIV+ participants) at baseline and every 6 months. The HYM cohort study will provide a platform from which new and emerging biomedical prevention strategies (eg, PrEP, rectal microbicides, and PEP) and other HIV prevention and care engagement interventions can be developed and evaluated with AA/L-YMSM. Results: To date, all participants in the HYM cohort study have been recruited and baseline assessment has been conducted. Conclusions: The findings from this research will be used to inform the development of new and/or adaptation of existing evidence-based HIV prevention interventions and interventions designed to engage this population in the HIV prevention and care continua.
AB - Background: No group is at greater risk for acquiring HIV than young men who have sex with men (YMSM), particularly black or African American (AA) and Hispanic or Latino (L) YMSM living in inner cities, who account for the largest number of new HIV infections each year. Although pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), postexposure prophylaxis (PEP), and treatment as prevention hold enormous promise for changing the course of the epidemic, AA/L-YMSM are the least likely population to be receiving primary health care and HIV prevention/care and are the least likely to be using PrEP and PEP. Objective: The overarching aim of the Healthy Young Men’s (HYM) cohort study is to conduct longitudinal research with a cohort of AA/L-YMSM to prevent new HIV infections, reduce transmission, and reduce HIV/AIDS-related disparities by focusing on successful engagement in care. Findings from this research will be used to inform the development of new interventions designed to engage AA/L-YMSM in the HIV prevention and care continua. Methods: Longitudinal research (baseline and follow-up assessments every 6 months for a total of 8 waves of data collection) is ongoing with a new cohort of 450 high-risk AA/L-YMSM in Los Angeles. Participants were recruited using a venue-based and social media sampling design. In addition to self-report surveys, the study protocol includes the collection of urine to assess recent use of illicit drugs and the collection of blood and rectal/throat swabs to test for current sexually transmitted infection (STI)/HIV infection. An additional sample of blood/plasma (10 mL for 4 aliquots and 1 pellet) is also collected and stored in the HYM cohort study biorepository for future research. By design, we recruited 400 HIV-negative participants and 50 HIV-positive (HIV+) participants. This mixed-methods study design includes collection and triangulated analysis of quantitative, qualitative, and biological measures (ie, drug use, STI/HIV testing, and adherence to antiretroviral therapy among HIV+ participants) at baseline and every 6 months. The HYM cohort study will provide a platform from which new and emerging biomedical prevention strategies (eg, PrEP, rectal microbicides, and PEP) and other HIV prevention and care engagement interventions can be developed and evaluated with AA/L-YMSM. Results: To date, all participants in the HYM cohort study have been recruited and baseline assessment has been conducted. Conclusions: The findings from this research will be used to inform the development of new and/or adaptation of existing evidence-based HIV prevention interventions and interventions designed to engage this population in the HIV prevention and care continua.
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U2 - 10.2196/10738
DO - 10.2196/10738
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85067217460
SN - 1929-0748
VL - 8
JO - JMIR Research Protocols
JF - JMIR Research Protocols
IS - 1
M1 - e10738
ER -